When You're Not Looking:  Epilogue
by mustlovecat
Summary: A quick one-shot epilogue to the epic I brought to conclusion a few months ago. Where are Flack, Noelle, Tony and Katie now?


**A/N **When I posted the final chapter of _When You're Not Looking_ a few months ago, a few people had asked for a sequel or a follow-up. This just kind of came out through my fingers tonight, so I decided to post it as a one-shot, but consider it a kind of epilogue to the final chapter. I hope all of you who loved the story enjoy this little piece of fluff.

* * *

><p>"Uncle Mac?"<p>

Mac glanced up from his spot behind his desk where he had been going nearly blind on paperwork. He glanced over at the young girl working at the glass table on the other side of the office, the familiar sight something he would never tire of. "Something wrong, Katie?"

"When's Daddy coming back? He said he was only going to be an hour."

The senior CSI bit back a smile at the pout on his charge's face. The ten-and-a-half year old had every single man in the Crime Lab wrapped around her little finger – she always had, from the first time her father had carried her in on his shoulders when she was just a toddler. And God help the teenaged boys in the city in just a few years' time. They were going to have to worry about the entire NYPD if they wanted to get near Don Flack's little girl. "He won't be much longer, sweetheart. And I think you will be very happy when you find out where he's been."

She raised her eyebrows curiously. "A surprise?"

"Could be."

She jumped up, abandoning her math homework and rushing over to the desk, looking at her uncle with a large, toothy grin. "What _kind_ of surprise?"

"If I told you, that would ruin it, don't you think? You better finish your homework, Ekaterina. You probably won't have much time once your father gets here," Mac warned.

She looked at him suspiciously. "You better be telling the truth, Uncle Mac, and not just trying to get me to finish my math assignment."

He chuckled. Sometimes he had to remind himself that she was only ten. She was way too smart for her own good. Precocious certainly did not seem to be quite accurate enough of a description. "Do you want me to check it for you?"

"No, that's okay. I know it's all right."

He shook his head. She had skipped a grade and was in the sixth, a year younger than all of her peers but with more intelligence and wisdom than any of them would ever have. He knew that Don and Noelle had often contemplated home schooling her, but they wanted her to have the social interaction offered by a normal school life. However, Mac knew she was well ahead of the rest of her classmates. He would retire tomorrow and leave the Lab in her more than capable hands if he thought he could get away with it.

"Hey, where is everyone?" Danny asked as he appeared in the doorway.

"Uncle Danny! What are you doing here?" Katie asked, running over and throwing her arms around him.

Danny looked over her head quizzically at Mac. Seeing the former Marine shaking his head subtly, he realized that Katie was in the dark. "Um, briefing for a joint investigation," he replied, thinking quickly on his feet. "Or so I thought. Wasn't that at four, Mac?"

"Five, Danny," Mac replied, grateful Messer had played along.

"I really need to learn how to use the calendar feature on my phone. You can show me, right, Katie?" Messer requested.

She sighed. "You're hopeless, Uncle Danny."

He laughed, kissing the top of her head. "How you doin', kiddo? You get your spelling test back yet?"

"I got an A+," she replied, looking up at him with a grin.

"Of course you did." Keeping her tucked into his side, he looked over at his former boss. "Where's my wife?"

"She's down in Autopsy. She should be back up in time – Uh, shortly," Mac stammered.

"You have any idea what this big – Um, what the big break in the case is all about?"

Katie looked suspiciously between her two uncles. "For a sergeant and the head of the Crime Lab you two are really bad at this."

Danny chuckled. "You have any idea what we're talkin' about, squirt?"

"No," she glowered.

"Then we ain't so bad." He gave her another hug, then said he would be back in a little while, heading down through the maze of corridors until he was out of sight.

Katie turned back and looked at Mac with narrowed eyes. "Something's going on."

Mac's cell phone buzzed from its spot on his desk then, saving him from any further interrogation by the young girl. He glanced at the text message that came through, nearly sighing in relief. He stood up and rounded his desk. "Come on, Detective Flack."

Curiously, she took her uncle's hand and followed him of his office and down the hallway. They were just passing the elevators when one of the doors opened and her mother came flying off.

"What's the big emergency?" Noelle asked, flustered, as she spotted Mac with her daughter. "Don texted and said I had to get over here right away. Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine, Mommy."

Mac found himself under the accusing gaze then of two Flack women and silently cursed Don for leaving their delivery to the conference room up to him. "Everything's going to make a lot more sense in just a moment. Follow me," he suggested.

Thanks to the glass walls that defined the New York City Crime Lab, they did not have to actually enter the conference room for their surprise to become evident. Noelle's eyes instantly filled with tears, but before she could really process the sight in front of her, Katie ran into the room at top speed, launching herself at the unprepared man leaning against the far wall. "Tony! Tony!"

"Hey, princess," he greeted, recovering quickly from the attack and picking her up, spinning her around and hugging her tightly. He looked across the room then with a huge grin aimed at his mother. "Hi, Ma."

Noelle was rendered speechless. She looked at her husband standing there with an equally big dimpled grin, happy he could pull off this surprise and knowing exactly what it meant to his wife. "Did you know?" she finally asked him when she found her voice.

Don nodded. "But I didn't want to get your hopes up in case it didn't happen. Things were touch and go until I got a call a couple hours ago," he explained.

Noelle's gaze moved back to their son then. "How long?"

Tony shrugged. "A couple weeks. Maybe three."

She got over her shock then and finally moved across the room. She reached up and touched her son's face as she took him in. "Do you know how long it's been?" she asked accusingly then.

"Eight months and three days," he replied sheepishly.

"Can you even tell me where you've been?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ma."

"It doesn't matter," she finally said softly. "It doesn't matter. You're here. And look at you. Oh, my God, look at you! You look so handsome. Are you all right? You haven't been hurt, have you?"

He rolled his eyes slightly as his mother's gaze passed over him from head to toe, confirming for herself that he was really standing there and all in one piece. "I'm fine. Swear to God."

"Antonio! So this is the big surprise!" Danny exclaimed as he walked into the room with his wife at his heels. He walked over and shook the young man's hand happily. "Welcome back, Lieutenant Flack."

"Thanks, Danny. It's good to be home. And Ma, I swear, I'm not going anywhere for a while," he assured Noelle, easily reading the expression on her face. He kissed her cheek then moved across the room to hug Lindsay.

"I got your page, Mac. What's the big –" Stella trailed off then as she joined everyone and saw what had caused her husband to summon her. "Tony! Oh, my God! Sweetheart, welcome home!"

The young man nearly blushed at the onslaught of attention, though he should not have been surprised. When his father picked him up from the airport and started heading into the city instead of towards Queen's, he did not need to ask why. Half of his family was standing in this room and it had been way too long since he had laid eyes on or even drafted an email to any of them.

"Tony, guess what?" Katie asked then, pulling on his sleeve to get his attention.

"What, princess?"

"I'm getting all A's."

He ruffled her chestnut curls. "Of course you are, Katie-bear."

"And Mrs Waldron says that I will probably be a writer like Mommy 'cause I have such an active 'magination."

"Not if I have anything to stay about it," Mac muttered under his breath.

Stella elbowed her husband. "Maybe she doesn't want to be a criminalist," she hushed him.

"But I want to be a detective like Daddy," Katie piped up.

Mac and Don both grinned with pride.

"Well, you can be whatever you want to be," Tony assured her. He looked at his parents then. "That's something that's ingrained in you when you have the name Flack, kid."

* * *

><p>The house was abuzz. Between the Hansens, the Flacks, and their entire NYPD family, every room was packed and the noise level was ridiculous. Children were running unabashedly through the house, there was some argument about the Rangers and Islanders being waged, and Don would not have it any other way. The dining room table was lined with half-eaten food, the make-shift bar on the counter in the kitchen a constant hub of activity, but this Thanksgiving, everyone was grateful for the same thing – the presence of the Navy Seal who was currently regaling a crowd with some stories in the middle of the living room.<p>

"You need to stop staring at him like he's about to vanish," Don whispered in his wife's ear, handing her a glass of wine as he joined her at the edge of the room.

"Yeah, well, we're only half-way through his commitment to the Corps. He just _might_ vanish at any moment."

"Last I checked we weren't at war, babe. You don't need to worry so much. He earned his commission, and from what I heard, promotion to Lieutenant-Commander before long isn't out of the question. That kid in there, he has come out of what could have robbed him of any opportunity, and made this incredible man of himself. How can we be anything but proud of him?"

"I am proud of him, Donnie. And we had something to do with that. I just wish his calling didn't take him away from us so much. I just miss him," she admitted.

"I know you do, baby. Me, too. So we just gotta take advantage of the next couple weeks, right?"

"He's standing there holding a beer. When did he get so grown up?"

Don just shook his head. He wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her close, kissing her temple.

"And apparently Katie's going to be running the Crime Lab before long. Mac does realize she's only ten, right?"

"Ten going on thirty. You ever get the feeling like she knows more than we do?" he asked incredulously.

Noelle laughed at that. "Yes. I feel like if we ever have to ground her, we're going to need legal precedents and a consultant."

Don smirked. "We did good, babe. And we'll continue to do good."

"When do you want to –"

"Later tonight. We'll tell 'em tonight." He clinked his beer bottle against her wine glass, then leaned in for a kiss. Despite the activity around them, he deepened the kiss, not caring that anyone could be watching. Nine years in and eternity still need not seem long enough.

Hours later, the house had cleared and Don and Noelle sat curled up on the couch, Tony on the armchair nursing a bottle of beer and Katie sitting on the floor by the sofa, petting Rocco absent-mindedly.

"I've got training outside of Frankfurt for three weeks, but I'll be home for Christmas," Tony announced during a break in silence. "I just got word."

Katie's eyes lit up. "Yay! 'Cause I wasn't sure how I was going to wrap your present to mail this year!" she explained excitedly.

"Oh yeah? What'd ya get me, squirt?"

"I'm not telling. But Daddy helped me pick it out. You'll like it, I promise."

"I'm sure I will." Tony glanced over at his mother. "You're supposed to be happy about this, Ma."

"I am. You have no idea how happy I am to hear that I'll have the three of you here for Christmas."

Tony cocked his head. "You talking about me, Katie and Dad, or me, Katie and Rocco there?" he teased her.

She bit her lip. She looked up at Don a little nervously, a lump sitting in her throat all of a sudden.

Her hand had settled on his thigh, and he reached down and squeezed it. He knew it had been a slip of the tongue, but they had decided to broach the subject tonight, so he figured this was as good as an opening as any. He looked at his two kids, hesitating a moment.

"Whoa. Holy crap!" Tony exclaimed, putting two and two together and getting – three. "Seriously?"

Noelle nodded slowly.

Tony grinned at his little sister who was completely lost. "Are we gonna have a baby brother or sister?" he asked.

Katie's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. "We're getting a baby?"

Noelle relaxed a little at the enthusiasm displayed by both of them. "Not exactly. He's five. His name is Alex, and he needs a home, so we were thinking –"

"I'm gonna have a little brother!" Katie screeched excitedly. "Does he like dogs and colouring and the zoo and –"

Don chuckled at her excitement. "We'll have to figure all that out, right? But I'm sure you'll make sure he and Rocco get along and you'll be able to teach him all about how to colour, if he doesn't' know already…"

Katie nodded with a grin. "I'll be a really good big sister, I promise!"

"I know you will, Katie-bear. That's the only reason we even started considering this," Don said, looking at Tony then. "And you're really okay with this?"

"Look, I'm the perfect example of what being a part of this family means. I wouldn't be doing what I love if it wasn't for you guys, right? I know how lucky I got. This is good. And you can get that worried look off your face, Ma. I know I'm not being replaced," he said astutely, meeting his mother's eyes with a sense of conviction.

Noli rolled her eyes. "You think you're so smart, don't you?"

"I just know you. This is the best news. Am I going to get to meet him before I go back?" Tony asked hopefully then.

Don nodded. "We'd like to bring him home this week, if everything can be sorted out with CFS. There's been a lot more hoops to jump through this time around. We didn't say anything before because it looked for a while like it wasn't going to happen. But things are pretty definite now."

"Where's he going to sleep?" Katie asked worriedly then.

"My room," Tony replied matter-of-factly. "We'll move my stuff down to the basement."

"But –"

"Katie, I'm hardly here anyway, princess. He needs to be upstairs need Mom, Dad and you. Otherwise he'll be scared. And he'll have Rocco up there to protect him…"

She considered then nodded in agreement. "But you're going to come home whenever you can, right? He's gonna need you to teach him stuff."

"No question, squirt."

Katie looked at her parents happily. "This is the best thing ever! Rocco can sleep in his room, okay? That way he'll feel safe here. Is he going to go to my school? I'll play with him at recess 'cause he won't know anybody yet. What are we going to get him for Christmas?"

Noelle and Don both relaxed at the enthusiasm their children were displaying. They had been pretty confident there would be no resistance, but they had not really known for sure. It had not been a difficult decision to make apart from the fear of their kids' reactions. But seeing how excited they both were, they knew that like with both Katie and Tony, this child had come into their life for a reason.

Katie was sound asleep not much later, and Tony had gone out to meet up with Sonny and John for a drink at a local bar – Noelle successfully masking her concern over him heading out at eleven at night, though Flack reminded her that the boy was in fact, no longer a boy, and a man of twenty-three. Noli finished getting ready for bed and wandered into the master bedroom, where Don was sitting up in bed waiting for her.

"You really ready to start over?" he asked her as she slid into bed beside him.

"I'm scared out of my mind and excited beyond belief. Knowing that Katie and Tony are behind this definitely helps," she admitted.

Don nodded. "I'm gonna call tomorrow, tell 'em we're ready whenever we can pick Alex up. It would be great if we could bring him home before Tony ships out again."

"I was thinking about the first Thanksgiving we were together. I ended up at your parents' alone, remember? You were working the Milagro murder, it was just a few weeks before we got married…I remember sitting around that table then and feeling so blessed. All these years later – I still feel that way. I'll never stop being grateful for nearly spilling a drink on you in Sullivan's that night."

Don smirked. "Which you did deliberately."

"Oh, for the love of God. Fine. Yes! Yes, I did it deliberately. Will you finally let it go now?"

"Not a chance, sweetheart."


End file.
